Delhi HC Temporarily Stays Release Of ‘Udaipur Files’ Amid Legal Challenge To CBFC Certification

The Delhi High Court has temporarily stayed the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ pending the Centre’s decision on revision pleas challenging the Central Board of Film Certification (CBFC) approval.

Photo Credit: IANS

New Delhi: The Delhi High Court on Thursday issued a temporary stay on the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ until the Centre decides on the revision petition filed by the petitioners challenging the CBFC certification granted to the movie.

Scheduled for a global release on Friday, the film is based on the gruesome murder of Kanhaiya Lal, a tailor from Udaipur, Rajasthan, who was killed in June 2022 by Mohammad Riyaz Attari and Ghaus Mohammad through throat slitting.

A bench comprising Chief Justice D.K. Upadhyaya and Justice Anish Dayal was hearing several petitions, including one by Maulana Arshad Madani, President of the Islamic cleric body Jamiat Ulema-i-Hind, seeking to annul the CBFC certification given to the film.

As per the petition filed by Maulana Arshad Madani, the CBFC certification was granted in violation of Section 5B of the Cinematograph Act, 1952 and the Guidelines for Certification of Films for Public Exhibition, since the release of the film ‘Udaipur Files’ has the potential to inflame communal tensions and disrupt public order, severely undermining the fabric of religious harmony in the country.

In its order, the Chief Justice Upadhyaya-led Bench allowed the petitioners as well as the general public to file within two days revision plea before the Union government under Section 6 of the Cinematograph Act. Section 6 vests the Centre with adequate powers to declare a film to be uncertified or pass orders providing for interim measures, including suspension of the film from public exhibition.

The Delhi HC asked the Centre to decide the revision pleas within a week after giving an opportunity of hearing to the producer. Further, it ordered that the prayer for interim relief, if made, will also be considered and decided.

In a hearing held on Wednesday, the Delhi High Court recorded Additional Solicitor General (ASG) Chetan Sharma’s statement that before the film was certified, the CBFC proposed certain cuts, and the producer of the film had implemented them.

It had asked the film’s producer to arrange for a private screening of the movie and the trailer on Wednesday itself for the counsels appearing in the matter, and posted the batch of pleas for further hearing on Thursday (July 10).

(With inputs from IANS)